Gaurav Rathore
His write-ups blend creativity, personal experience, and tailored technical advice, meeting reader needs effectively.
A week ago, I found my kids using the “StrangerMeetup” website for video chats with their friends (Worry still clings to me).
At first glance, Stranger Meetup looks like a normal online platform, offering free video calling services. However, it is also a center of inappropriate content and predatory risks.
So, being a concerned parent, I spent several hours acquainting myself with the platform to reveal hidden dangers and how to keep children safe.
Let’s get into this write-up — because your child’s safety is too important to leave any chance.
StrangerMeetup is an online chat platform that provides a private space for people to connect with strangers. It was founded in 2010 with the goal of creating an anonymous conversational website.
However, like Camloo and Chat Avenue, it also becomes a breeding ground for fraudsters and predators who exploit your privacy. So, I recommend reading the StrangerMeetup Terms & Conditions — because not everyone on the other side of the screen has good intentions.
Besides this, it is rated for 18+ on the Google Play Store, which indicates that it is not meant for kids. Hence, your kids may be exposed to adult images and vulgar behavior.
For more in-depth guidance, keep reading this article to decide whether it is safe for kids or not.
No, StrangerMeetup is not entirely safe for kids.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, Stranger Meet Up is an adult-rated website that only allows 17+ users. For this reason, children might interact with older and mature people, who may take advantage of them.
Moreover, random connections with strangers can cause kids to face cyberbullying, child grooming, sextortion, and phishing attempts. Not only this, but scammers and predators target children to exploit them into dangerous activities.
According to reviews on Trustpilot, Stranger Meet Up holds a poor rating of 2.4 stars. Many users have expressed dissatisfaction, citing frequent encounters with bot spammers, questioning its reliability.
So, parents have to take essential steps for their kids’ safety and keep them away from Meet Up Stranger and other random video chatting sites like Crushroulette and ChatPig.
Hence, I strongly recommend that parents prevent their children from using Stranger Meetup.
Similar to LuckyCrush and 1v1Chat, Strangermeet Up is also associated with potential risks. As a concerned parent, you should be familiar with the issues it hold to protect your children.
Here, I’ve jotted down some common risks that I encountered while using Stranger Meetup.
Kids using Stranger Meetup may encounter adult language, explicit images, or sexually suggestive behavior that can be harmful to them and affect their mental and emotional development.
These kinds of websites are often targeted by predators posing as other children. Afterwards, they manipulate kids to share personal information and financial data and sell it to third-party hackers.
Using Strangermeetup.com website, kids may become victims of toxic interactions, bullying, or harassment from creepy strangers. This will lead them to feel low self-esteem and body-shaming.
Constant exposure to adult materials and negative online interactions can lead to anxiety, stress, depression, and confusion, which indirectly affect their physical health as well.
Stranger Meet Up is an adult-oriented platform, making it apparent that this site doesn’t offer parental controls. Hence, it leaves children unsupervised in an unfiltered digital environment.
Hence, to shield your children from the dangers discussed here, you’ll need to follow some solid safety measures in the first place.
Since Meet Up Strangers is linked to many risks, it is important to enhance your kids’ digital safety. That’s why you should keep them away from these dangerous sites.
But how do you do that? For that, I’ve mentioned some extra tips to protect your children from online crimes.
Firstly, have an open conversation about the dangers of anonymous chatting and online interactions with strangers. In addition, you should teach them the importance of safe and reliable online browsing.
You should make strict regulations on when and where to use devices. At the same time, you must consider using family sharing accounts that give you more control over app downloads and web access.
On top of that, you should install parental controls like Bark and Aura to monitor your children’s online activity, restrict inappropriate content, and limit screen time.
Empower your children to take immediate action if you are not around them. Teach them how to block or report users when they encounter something suspicious about them.
If your children become victims of nudity and uncensored videos or images, you should report to legal authorities immediately. These entities include the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
I advised introducing your kids to safe video chatting platforms to protect them from cyber crimes. Thankfully, there are many trustworthy and safe video calling apps that are approved by parents and grandparents.
Let’s take a look at safer alternatives to Strangermeetup.com.
Google Meet is a notable app that implements security measures like encryption and unique IDs to enhance safety. It is one of the best platforms for educational, business, and school meetings.
Moreover, you can use the “Knock Knock” feature, which shows the caller’s face before picking up the video call. It also blocks anonymous users who forcefully join Google Meet with fake email addresses. These security tools help to build a safe environment for children.
Messenger Kids is especially designed for children to prioritize their security. It is developed by Meta (formerly Facebook), which offers built-in parental controls. This assists parents in controlling their kids’ accounts, dashboard, contacts, and friend requests.
Interestingly, this app provides exciting and crazy face filters, quizzes, doodles, slime-throwing, and other fun activities to engage kids during video calling. Along with this, it offers games, decorate hats, design a spell, and grow pet-like activities.
Kinzoo is a family-friendly app that delivers audio, text, and video calling services. It connects kids with family members and friends with its advanced software easily and safely.
Besides, this platform also facilitates interesting features such as games, color, decor, and stories to give children access to the best of technology. With thousands of activity sheets, stickers, doodles, and face filters, Kinzoo Messenger is a one-stop destination for every curious young mind.
Caribu is another award-winning platform for kids to connect with loved ones and family. With the title “Playtime is Calling”, this website especially brings children and grandparents together, no matter the distance.
On the other hand, it features parental calls, encrypted calls, and prohibits strangers to enhance children’s security. Believe me, your children will create endless stories by using stories, books, painting, and drawing.
JustTalk Kids is a popular messaging app designed with children’s safety in mind. It gives them a fun way to stay in touch with family members while providing parents peace of mind.
Unlike Strangermeet Up, it provides kid-appropriate doodles, stickers, and games during video calling. These features will add spark to their conversation and laughter. It also offers customized themes and icons for an enjoyable communication.
WhatsApp is a widely recognized family-friendly app for both adults and children. It offers a user-friendly interface, end-to-end encryption for messages, and a block and report feature to restrict scammers.
Furthermore, it has built-in safety tools like privacy, safety, and security for parents to watch over their kids’ protection. Besides this, you can use voice and video calls, connect with businesses, and build a community of your own. Hence, it is a far better option than StrangerMeetup.
Overall, you need to make sure your kids use safe and reliable video chatting apps so they can stay protected from online fraud.
To sum up, StrangerMeetup is an online video calling website that allows users to connect with the world. But it is intended for adults only and doesn’t support parental controls and safety features.
That’s why I strongly recommend parents keep their children away from Meet Up Strangers and other similar sites like Instacams and Coomeet. On top of that, you can choose safe video calling apps like Messenger Kids and Kinzoo to ensure kids’ safety and privacy.
Additionally, you can install parental controls on your children’s devices to add an extra layer of protection in their cyberspace.
StrangerMeetup is a platform that lets you have video calls and text messages with strangers around the globe.
No, Stranger Meetup is an adult-oriented website, not meant for kids.
You and your kids may be exposed to cyberbullying, sexual content, grooming, and phishing attempts on the Stranger Meet Up platform. So, be cautious about using it.
Yes, your children can use Messenger Kids, JustTalk Kids, WhatsApp, Caribou, Kinzoo, and Google Meet for video calling. These apps are committed to providing children’s safety.
